A Future Move
by rubycaspar
Summary: An anomaly opens in the ARC, and this one brings a pair of future visitors... well, a trio if you count the unborn baby. A kind of cracky-type fic, in which Becker encounters a future pregnant Jess.


I have been working on this story for _months_. It's one of those stories that just sits in my Primeval folder being re-read and added to almost every day, but never _finished_. Well, tonight, I finally sat down and wrote the ending for the damn thing! And I can't tell you how happy I am to have finally finished it!

This is something of crack fic, by which I mean I could never see them doing something like this on the show, and if they did I'd really feel they were jumping the shark and be really disappointed. But it came into my head and wouldn't leave me alone, so enjoy!

The reason Connor and Abby are both wearing engagement rings is because a) it's cute, b) Abby proposed, and I think that means Connor's entitled to a ring, and c) in real life, Hannah and Andrew both wear engagement rings. D'aww!

**A Future Move**

This was not good. Becker couldn't even list all of the ways in which this was _not good_ He was standing in the locker room of the ARC and there, right in front of him, was an open anomaly. And this one wasn't one of Connor's making... he was pretty sure. Becker stared, visions of swarms of bugs and Jess pale and immobile flashing through his mind.

"_Oh my god_." Jess' voice in Becker's ear sounded as shocked and worried as he felt. He felt a sudden wave of fear at the thought that Jess was just up the corridor – he really did not like the idea of her being so close to an anomaly again. He knew she wouldn't appreciate him demanding she evacuated herself though, so he swallowed his fear down and signalled for his men to fan out around the room, which they did, keeping their backs to the walls and their guns trained on the anomaly.

"Jess, where's that locking device?" Becker said.

"_Connor's on his way down now_," Jess replied. "_And Matt, Emily and Abby are on their way back too_." Matt and Abby were out of the ARC, cleaning up after another anomaly alert that had happened this morning. Connor, Becker and his team had just happened to get back to the ARC a bit earlier than them, when this had happened.

Before Becker could reply there was a movement in the anomaly. "Something's coming through!" He exclaimed, training his gun more firmly on the shimmering light. A moment later, something _did _come through – a football.

The football – an ordinary, white, leather football – sailed through the anomaly and landed on the floor, bouncing a couple of times before rolling towards Becker. He instinctively put a foot on top of it to stop it.

"_Is that... a football_?" Jess said.

"Yeah," said Becker, staring down at it. He noticed some black marks on it and frowned. "I think there's something written on it."

"_What does it say_?" Jess asked.

Becker glanced at his men to make sure they were still covering the anomaly – they were well-trained, none of them even glancing at him. He bent to pick up the football and turned it over – someone had taken a large black marker pen to it. His eyes widened as he read what it said.

"_Well_?" Jess prompted.

Becker cleared his throat. "It says 'Don't shoot me, Becker'."

Jess was silent for a moment. "_Er... what_?" She said eventually.

Becker shook his head but then the anomaly shimmered again. He raised his gun one-handed to point it at the anomaly again just as a figure stepped through. A petite figure wearing a short red dress, her hands in the air in a classic 'surrender' pose.

"Seriously, don't shoot me," she said.

Becker's jaw dropped and the football he held slipped out of his hand and bounced to the floor.

It was Jess. And... and she was pregnant. Heavily pregnant. Becker's eyes widened at the sight of her expanded stomach before snapping back up to her face. She smiled sheepishly. "Hi."

Becker stared as Jess dropped her hands and turned her smile on the rest of the soldiers in the room, who were all gaping at her in differing levels of shock. "It's okay, nothing dangerous is coming through," she said. She looked back at Becker and smiled again. "It actually leads to my flat, of all places."

Becker kept staring, and then jumped as Jess' voice sounded again, this time in his ear. "_Oh my god_," she said. "_Oh my god – that's me_!"

"Um..." Becker couldn't decide what to say first.

"_Where have I come from? Oh my – am I _pregnant_?_"

The Jess in front of Becker was watching him closely as he shifted uncomfortably at Jess' questions. She grinned suddenly and turned to the security camera in the corner of the room, and waved enthusiastically. Jess suddenly laughed in Becker's ear.

"Oh my god."

Becker looked over his shoulder to see Connor in the doorway, gaping at Jess. Jess turned her grin on him. "Hi Connor," she said.

Connor started grinning as he walked further into the room. "This is... you're pregnant!"

Jess laughed. "Can't get anything past you," she said.

Connor started towards Jess, but Becker stepped forward to stop him. He turned to look at Jess, who was smirking.

"Where have you come from, and what are you doing here?" He asked.

Jess' smirk widened a bit. "I told you, I've come from my flat – I was at home, on maternity leave, and the anomaly just opened up," she said. "I'm from the future – obviously – but I'm not going to tell you from when."

Becker's eyes dropped to her stomach again at her mention of being on maternity leave. She was pregnant – _Jess was pregnant_. The thought of Jess as a mother... weird. It was just weird. And kind of oddly appealing... no. Not appealing. Just weird.

Becker shook his head. "And why are you here?" He asked her.

Jess shrugged. "I was bored," she said. "It appeared, and I knew where it went, so I came through."

Becker forgot the weirdness of the situation for a moment and just stared at her. "You were _bored_?" He said. "An anomaly appeared, and you went through because you were _bored_? You couldn't have known for sure where it went!"

Jess waved her hand dismissively. "I knew – I was wearing this dress, and the football was right there, and it's not everyday an anomaly opens up in my flat," she said. "If it makes you feel better, I did check the date of the thing before sending the football through."

She reached into a pocket of her dress and pulled out a small silver device that looked like a mobile phone.

Connor's eyes lit up. "Ooh, a future dating device!" He said excitedly. He started forward again, and once again Becker put out a hand to stop him.

"Just lock the anomaly, Connor," he said tersely.

"Oh, I'll do it!" Jess exclaimed. She pointed the silver device at the anomaly, pressed a couple of buttons, and the anomaly locked.

Connor literally _squirmed _with excitement as he held out a hand. "Aw, _please _let me have a look at that thing..."

Becker reached out to pull Connor back again, but was distracted by a high-pitched squeal behind him. "Oh my _god_!"

It was Jess – the other Jess. The real... well, the present Jess. She looked like she'd run there from the control room, and before Becker could make a move to stop her she ran over to her future self.

"Hi!" Her future self exclaimed happily. "Aw, look at you, you're so young!"

Becker raised an eyebrow at that – future Jess barely looked any different to the Jess he knew, except that her hair was longer and she was pregnant.

Present Jess laughed. "And you're so _pregnant_!" She said, staring at her stomach. "How far along are you?"

"Eight months – ooh, it's kicking, you wanna feel?"

"Can I?"

"Of course!" Future Jess grabbed Jess' hand and guided it to her stomach. Jess' expression melted into one of complete wonder and Becker could see tears in her eyes.

"Wow," she said weakly.

Becker shook his head and beckoned one of his men over to him. "Go tell Lester what's going on," he said. The soldier nodded and hurried off.

"Well that's something you don't see every day."

Becker looked over his shoulder to see Matt, Emily and Abby had arrived, and were standing in the doorway, staring at the two Jesses. Matt was the one who had spoken, and he caught Becker's eye briefly to exchange a '_what the hell?_' look with him. Abby brushed past them both to approach future Jess, and Connor went with her. Emily hesitated for a moment and then followed them as well.

"Why have you come through?" Abby asked as she reached her. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, do you have an important message from the future?" Connor asked, sounding excited at the prospect.

Future Jess laughed. "No, nothing like that, sorry," she said. "It opened up and I had nothing else to do..."

They all laughed. Becker shook his head, watching them – did nobody but him think this was completely weird? He looked at Matt and saw that he too was pretty bewildered, but not bewildered enough in Becker's opinion.

"So who's the father?" Connor asked suddenly.

Becker's head snapped up at that question. Silly, really, but in the shock of seeing Jess pregnant, he'd forgotten to think about how she'd gotten that way. He thought about it now though – _who was the father_?

"Wow, look at that ring!" Abby exclaimed suddenly, her hand reaching out and grabbing future Jess'. She grinned. "Jess, you're married!"

Future Jess smiled. "Well of course I am – what kind of girl do you take me for?" She winked at Abby.

Abby nudged present Jess and gave her a suggestive look. "So who is it Jess?" She said teasingly. "Who's the lucky man?"

Connor glanced back at Becker in what he probably thought was a subtle way – Becker glared at him, and he quickly turned around again.

Jess blushed but laughed it off. "Let's see the ring," she said, holding out her hand to her future self. "I need to know what proposal to accept after all."

They all laughed again.

"How far in the future are you from?" Matt asked suddenly, stepping forward.

Future Jess looked over at Matt and gave him a strange smile. "I'm not telling you that," she said. "But I will tell you that everything's fine." She and Matt exchanged a look that Becker didn't understand.

"_Jess! Parker get up here – the Minister's on the line_. _And I mean the present day Jess, to avoid confusion._"

They all looked up as Lester's voice sounded through their radios. Jess rolled her eyes and sighed impatiently. "Damn – I need to take that call, we've been trying to talk to the Minister all morning," she said.

Her future self nodded. "I know – you should go," she said. "And don't worry, it goes well."

Jess chuckled. "Thanks for that," she said. She untangled herself from the little group and started back towards the door, looking over her shoulder as she went. She caught Becker's eye as she went past him and raised her eyebrows at him, obviously fishing for his reaction – he looked away quickly. He really didn't know what to say to her – this was all just way too weird for him.

Jess hurried past him and disappeared out of the room.

Becker stared at the floor for a few moments before looking back up – the Future Jess was staring at him, and she smiled when he looked at her.

"Well... time for me to go," she said.

"Really? So soon?" Connor said, sounding disappointed.

Future Jess shrugged. "Yeah – I went to take that call, and when I came back five minutes later the future me was gone and the anomaly was closed," she said. She looked at Becker again, who also shrugged.

"Okay... so... are you just gonna go back through?" He said awkwardly.

Future Jess grinned suddenly. "No, I'll wait to be rescued," she said.

Becker frowned. "Rescued?"

The grin widened. "Sure," she said cheerfully. "Should be any second now."

Before Becker could even think what she meant, the anomaly behind her wavered and opened, bursting out of the neat little ball it had been locked up in. Becker heard the sounds of five guns being raised as his men jumped to attention again, and his own gun went up as well almost of its own accord. There was a moment when nothing happened, and then a figure stepped through.

Becker lowered his gun. And his jaw. No – this was the last straw. He was dreaming, he had to be. He glanced around at his men – they were all lowering their guns, exchanging startled looks.

"No way," Matt said quietly.

Becker just shook his head silently, staring as his future self looked round the room. The man's eyes fell on Future Jess, and he glared at her.

"I am going to _kill _you," he said.

Future Jess just smiled. "Nice to see you too," she said.

Future Becker's glare deepened and he strode towards her. "Seriously, Jess, what were you _thinking_?" He demanded angrily.

Future Jess looked surprised. "You're mad at me?" She said. "_Seriously_?"

"Of course I'm mad!" Future Becker exclaimed, sounding it. "_You don't just go through any anomaly that appears_."

Future Jess gaped at him, obviously surprised by his reaction. "I knew where it went! I knew I'd be fine," she protested. The other Becker didn't look impressed by her reasoning, and she threw her hands in the air and started to walk over towards Becker.

Becker's eyes widened as she got closer, but she just rolled her eyes at him. "Look – see this person right here, standing next to me?" She said, turning back to Becker's future self once she'd reached his side. "This is _you_. Meaning you also knew that I'm fine this whole time... so what's the problem?"

Future Becker just folded his arms and glared at her. "What about the baby?" He said. "We have no idea what going through an anomaly does to an unborn baby."

"Emily was fine!" Future Jess exclaimed.

There was a collective gasp from several people present – none so loud as from Future Jess. She looked round at Emily, her eyes wide. "Forget I said that," she hissed at her. Emily just stared at her in shock.

Future Jess cleared her throat awkwardly and looked back at Future Becker. "I'm fine."

"You were lucky this time."

Future Jess let out an exasperated breath. "Oh for... you see how annoying you are?" She said, suddenly rounding on Becker. He stared down at her, unable to think of a single thing to say. This was just _way too weird_.

Future Jess watched at him struggling for words for a few moments before smirking and turning back to his future self. "Just for the record, I quite like you speechless," she said cheekily.

Future Becker just glared at her, and he raised an arm to point at the flickering light behind him. "Just get back through the anomaly."

"Spoilsport," Future Jess said, pouting slightly. She sighed and started towards the anomaly – Future Becker watched her in silence, his arm still raised, and then once she was past him he started to follow her, shaking his head.

Future Jess turned back to them all before heading through the anomaly. She smiled, her hand on her expanded stomach. "Well, see you," she said. "Tell me... see you later." She looked at Becker and grinned at him, looking like she was about to say something else, but Future Becker put a hand on her shoulder and gently but firmly pushed her towards the anomaly. Becker saw her roll her eyes before she walked through the light and disappeared.

Future Becker started to follow her, but turned around at the last moment and looked back at Becker. He ran a hand through his hair, looking very awkward, and was silent for a few moments before sighing.

"Good luck," he said emphatically, before disappearing as well.

A moment later the anomaly locked – presumably from the other side.

There was silence in the locker room for a good minute after they were gone. Becker stared at the locked anomaly, waiting to wake up. Because seriously... there was no way this could be real. There was no way that had actually _just happened. _No way.

Any second now, he would wake up...

"Oh my god!" Connor exclaimed, breaking the silence.

"Most... surreal... I can't even..." Abby said, shaking her head.

Becker bit back the urge to groan, and turned to his men, who were all trying to look casual. "I want at least three of you on this thing until it's gone," he ordered them. "If it opens again, lock it from our side."

He turned to the team, who were all looking less dumbstruck, and starting to look more amused. Well – Connor and Abby were; Matt and Emily not so much. Especially Emily, who looked like she was going to be in a permanent state of shock over Future Jess' slip about her pregnancy.

_Future Jess_. Who was also pregnant. What the _hell._

"We'd better go debrief Lester," Becker said. He strode out of the locker room as quickly as he could. Connor looked like he was about to burst, and he'd definitely prefer he started teasing him out of earshot of his men. There was no way Connor wasn't going to say anything about them just having had an encounter with Becker's future self.

Connor followed him like a shot, signifying that the teasing was definitely imminent. Footsteps told Becker the others were following too.

"Did anyone else notice the ring?" Connor said suddenly.

"Yes!" Abby exclaimed.

Becker wasn't expecting Connor to start with that, and frowned. "What ring? Jess' ring?" Truthfully he hadn't taken a close look – he'd glanced at her left hand when Abby had started exclaiming over it, but the thought of Jess married had done odd things to the harmony of Becker's stomach, so he'd looked away quickly.

"No, yours," Connor said. Becker looked at him, and saw he was grinning widely. "You were wearing a wedding ring."

Becker blinked. "What?"

Connor nodded. "You were – you're totally the father," he said, his grin practically splitting his face in two.

"_What_?" Becker yelped. Connor and Abby started to laugh, and Matt and even Emily looked less pained. Becker was reeling – had his future self really been wearing a ring? He hadn't noticed one, but then he hadn't been looking for it. Did that mean... after all, Future Jess did say that the anomaly led to her flat... why would he be in Jess' flat if he wasn't... and he'd followed her through... and he'd been really worried about her baby...

No, this was ridiculous. There was no way. _No way_.

"Look, even if I was wearing a ring, it doesn't mean I'm married to Jess!" Becker told Connor firmly.

Abby snorted. "Oh please, those two were _obviously _married," she said patronisingly. "They practically screamed marriage."

Connor nodded. "That's true, they did," he said.

"How would you know?" Becker demanded.

"Erm..." Abby and Connor pointedly held up their left hands, displaying their engagement rings and giving him matching sardonic looks.

"Also, I have been married, and I have to concur," Emily piped up. She was even _smiling _now.

Matt smiled too. "I obviously have no experience, but yeah."

Becker threw his hands in the air and strode away. "You're all insane!" He called over his shoulder. The only answer he got was laughter.

_Three years later_

Jess pursed her lips and stared at her husband. She was lying on the couch with her feet in his lap, and he was rubbing them, putting his wonderfully skilled hands to very good use. His touch was gentle, but his face was stormy. She rolled her eyes.

"I can't believe you're still angry at me!"

"I'm not," he said immediately.

"Oh please," Jess scoffed. "You can barely look at me!"

He turned his head and looked at her, obviously just to prove a point, but he could only keep his expression passive for a few seconds before scowling and looking away.

Jess rolled her eyes. "Hilary, I'm fine," she said firmly. "I'm fine, the baby's fine – I knew we would be. Do you think I would have gone through if I'd thought it would be the least bit dangerous?"

Becker sighed and looked back at her. "Do you know the worst part?" He said. "It wasn't the fact that the ADD detected an anomaly here, in our flat, where you were home alone, or the fact that you were gone and it was locked when I got here. No – it was _this_."

He reached out and picked up something from the side table next to his end of the couch. Jess' eyes widened at the sight of the piece of paper as Becker held it up and started to read aloud.

"_Hi honey, have just popped through the anomaly. See you in a minute. Love you. J xxx_."

He lowered the note and glared at her.

Jess was biting her lip to stop herself from laughing, and she eventually shrugged. "I didn't want you to worry," she said after a few moments. "And besides, the other you got a note..."

"Oh yeah, my football," Becker said, scowling again and folding his arms. "I hope you're planning on buying me a new one."

Jess grinned. "Actually I have _that _one," she said. "I found it in the locker room and kept it – it's in my wardrobe."

Becker didn't seem to think that was as cool as she did – he turned away again, still scowling.

Jess harrumphed and levered herself up on her elbows. "Okay, seriously Hil, you need to get over this," she said. "I had to go through. Leaving aside the whole changing history aspect of it if I hadn't, my visit from the future had serious repercussions for us all and you know it."

Becker's scowl deepened, but Jess knew that was only because he knew she was right. She pressed her point anyway.

"Matt was right in the middle of torturing himself over seeing his future self and getting freaked out, so he needed to be told it would all be fine. Emily was feeling all alone and confused because Matt was pulling away from her on account of being all freaked out, and so my slip about her pregnancy actually really helped them. And you..."

Becker looked at her then, and raised an eyebrow. Jess grinned. "You got so wound up at the thought of someone marrying me and getting me pregnant that you decided the only thing for it would be to make sure you were the one to do so, resulting in you _finally _making a move!"

Becker had stopped scowling, but he didn't look happy. But Jess would swap angry for grumpy any day.

"I would have made a move eventually," he said sullenly.

Jess snorted. "I'd probably still be waiting," she said.

Becker smirked. "Well, you could have made a move yourself you know," he said.

Jess grinned again. "I did – I travelled back in time to give you a glimpse of the future – I think as moves go, it's a pretty good one!"

Becker's smirk turned into a smile and he shifted on the sofa, stretching out on his side next to her. She laid back properly and he propped himself up on his elbow, leaning over her and bringing one hand to rest flat on her stomach.

"Okay, point taken," he said, still smiling at her. "I just worry about you."

Jess reached up and ran her fingers through his hair before cupping his cheek in her hand. "I know," she said. "But I promise, no more anomalies for me."

Becker nodded. "Good girl." He leant down and gently pressed his lips to hers. Jess returned the kiss for a few moments, her fingers sliding up into his hair again, and when he pulled back she smiled up at him.

"Unless my future self comes through an anomaly again – then I'll have to go through when the time is right... I mean, who are we to tamper with the laws of time travel –"

Becker leant down and kissed her again, and though Jess had a feeling this kiss was more to shut her up than anything else, she didn't mind.

THE END


End file.
